A New Year's Kiss
by XxMNinjaxX
Summary: Akane loves Akari, and all she has ever truly wanted was for Akari to be happy. These facts were clearer now than they had ever been before. The only question left, was…Why did knowing this have to hurt so much?... One kiss can change a person's entire life. This is a story about a kiss that changes multiple lives. Heartbreak, but with a happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Akane loved Akari, and all she had ever truly wanted was for Akari to be happy. These facts were clearer now than they had ever been before. The only question left, was…Why did knowing this have to hurt so much?... One kiss can change a person's entire life. This is a story about a kiss that changes multiple lives. Heartbreak, but with a happy ending.

**Disclaimer: I don't own YuruYuri! It belongs to its creator, Namori-sensei! I don't own HayateXBlade either, because it belongs to Shizuru Hayashiya-sensei. I also don't own Candy Boy, which belongs to Hiro Touge-sensei. And, I don't own Mai-Hime, which belongs to Sunrise and Masakazu Obara-sensei and Hiroyuki Yoshino-sensei.**

**This story was inspired by Marshmallow-101's and Yuri no Tenshi's awesome fanfics! :)**

*****Note: **_**Flashbacks**_** as well as random parts of **_**emphasis**_** will be in **_**Italics**_**. **

* * *

A New Year's Kiss: Chapter 1

It was New Years Eve in the universe of Yuruyuri, and everybody was celebrating.

Akane and her college friends were having a party at Yukino and Kanade Sakurai's house. Yukino and Kanade were preparing appetizers in the kitchen. Shizuru Fujino, Natsuki Kuga, Yuho Shizuma, Mai Tokiha, and Mai's boyfriend, Yuuichi Tate, were sitting in the living room. Jun Kuga was excitedly setting up the fireworks that she planned to set off at midnight.

"Relax, Jun," Yuho Shizuma said calmly, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend as Jun re-entered the house to retrieve more fireworks. "It's only 11:35. There's plenty of time to set your fireworks up before midnight…"

"Yeah, but Yuhon…" Jun Kuga said excitedly, sitting down on the couch, next to her girlfriend, and placing an arm around her shoulder. Jun gestured toward the sky in a rainbow-shaped motion. "Imagine it: Looking up at the sky at midnight, seeing those fireworks, and kissing your true love! I can't wait!" Jun's blue eyes sparkled with passionate excitement…

Yuho blushed. "Jun…Only _you_ would be _this_ excited about something like that…" the purple-eyed blond said in a tsundere-like manner, her eyebrow raised at the grinning Jun. Yuho knew that it would be wise to suspect her notoriously perverted girlfriend of having more than just kissing in mind...

A soft laugh caught the blond girls' attention. "Actually, I'm looking forward to kissing my true love at midnight as well… and also worried that I won't be able to wait until midnight…" Shizuru Fujino looked over to her blue-haired girlfriend, Natsuki Kuga.

The green-eyed bluenette blushed shyly and looked away with an embarrassed pout. "Shizuru…Jeez…"

"Exactly!" Jun said, using the situation to her advantage, "I won't be able to wait either! Yuho, let's-"

"No." Was Yuho's instant reply.

"But-" the perverted ninja tried again. Only to be met with Yuho's next immediate reply of,

"NO."

"Aww…Fine…" Jun huffed. Knowing that she would have no luck in convincing the stubborn, purple-eyed girl, Jun looked around the room. "Hey…where are Akane-chan and Tomoko-chan?"

* * *

Akane Akaza sat alone, on a forested hill that overlooked the entire town. The December air was chilly, but the dark, star-spotted sky gave the night an existential sense of beauty. Akane gazed at the breath-taking scenery. Although the large rock she had decided to sit and rest on was slightly within the tree-line, and on the other side of the hiking trail from the overlook (the overlook that extended out from the trail's side), she still had a clear view of the night sky.

'It truly is beautiful…' Akane thought in wonder, 'Tomoko-chan was right…'

Earlier that night, Tomoko Yoshikawa had been acting uncharacteristically nervous.

(Flashback)

"_Tomoko-chan, are you ok?" Akane had asked her friend earlier that night._

"_Oh! Um, yes, I'm fine…" The pink-haired girl had said with a nervous smile, blushing slightly as her gaze met the taller girl's._

_Akane frowned slightly at her friend, concerned for the other girl. "No you're not, Tomoko-chan…I can see that something's been bothering you…" The red-haired girl looked at her pink-haired companion compassionately. "Please, tell me what's been making you upset for the past few hours…"_

"_I…" Tomoko looked into the eyes of the woman she was secretly head-over-heels in love with, and decided that she couldn't wait another minute to tell her how she felt. The ruby-eyed girl checked her watch: 11:10pm… 'It's much too early to start walking to the overlook now, but…I don't think that I can wait much longer. I'm too nervous…'_

"_Akane-chan, um…would you like to…take a walk with me?"_

"_Of course," Akane consented without hesitation, thinking that Tomoko wished to confide her troubles to her in secret._

'_What could this be about?…' The red-haired girl thought in concern, 'I hope that Tomoko-chan is ok…'_

_Tomoko's eyes lit up slightly in happy excitement at her friend's reply. "Ok! There's a beautiful overlook along a nearby trail…It's only fifteen minutes away. Maybe we could walk there?"_

"_I'd love to," Akane replied with a gentle smile, glad that her friend seemed to be in a slightly better mood. 'Whatever she wants to tell me, this must be something that Tomoko-chan really needs to talk about…'_

_The two girls walked out of the Sakurai house together, heading toward the trail._

(End Flashback)

That had been twenty minutes ago. After Akane and Tomoko had gotten to the part of the trail that passed by the picturesque overlook, Tomoko had become nervous again. The pink-haired college student had requested a moment alone, to _sort out her thoughts_ (but really to gather her courage), and Akane had consented understandingly (or at least she thought she understood, but really she had no clue about the true source of the ruby-eyed girl's nervousness). Tomoko had walked slightly farther up the trail, while Akane remained resting on the rock shaded by the trees near the path.

After five minutes of admiring the scenery, Akane's thoughts had shifted to other matters. Currently, she was thinking about Akari.

'I wonder how Akari's doing?' Akane thought, 'I hope she's having a good time with her friends. It's so wonderful that she's been enjoying middle school so much this year!' A soft smile appeared on the college freshman's face.

A sudden thought occurred to the red-haired girl. 'I'm very grateful to be spending New Years Eve with my friends, and for Akari being able to celebrate with her own friends, but… part of me really wants to be able to spend a moment with Akari too…' Akane sighed blissfully, gazing up at the star-lit sky as she imagined a situation where she and Akari would be able to celebrate a moment of New Years Eve together, even for a short while, and… another situation in which she would be… sharing a New Years Eve kiss with Akari…

* * *

To celebrate the coming of the New Year, Akari and her middle school friends were having a party at Chinatsu's house, which was just a short walk away from the Sakurai residence. All of the friends were talking, eating, laughing, and having a good time together. Everybody seemed relaxed…except for Chinatsu Yoshikawa. The pink-haired middle school student seemed nervous…

"Chinatsu-chan, are you ok?" Akari asked the anxious, blue-eyed girl. It was 11:20pm, only 40 minutes until midnight, and Chinatsu-chan didn't seem to be happy or excited at all…

"I'm fine…" Chinatsu replied. After a moment, she looked into Akari's eyes seriously. 'I can't wait until midnight to do this…If I do, I'll go crazy…'

"Akari-chan, will you take a walk with me?" Chinatsu asked.

The purple-eyed girl was surprised by her friend's request, but complied with a happy smile.

"Sure, Chinatsu-chan! Where are we going?"

"Um, it's a surprise," Chinatsu said, trying her hardest not to blush.

"Ok!" Akari agreed happily. "Oh! We'll come back by midnight though, right? To see the "special surprise" Kyouko-chan was talking about? And to celebrate with everybody?"

"Um…" Chinatsu hesitated slightly. That wasn't her intention, but… "Well, the place we're going is only a 15 minute walk from here…"

Akari nodded. "Ok. Let's go!"

The red and pink-haired girls walked out the door of the house. They began heading toward a trail that led through a forested area, and past a romantic overlook from which the entire town could be seen…

* * *

At 11:35pm, Akane was startled out of her blissful reverie by the sound of two people talking.

'Oh…it seems like somebody else has decided to come to this overlook tonight…' The red-haired college student thought. She had been too lost in their thoughts of Akari to notice the people until they had made it to the overlook, having passed by the shaded area Akane was resting in without noticing the red-haired college student. The people, whose forms were slightly illuminated in the starlight, appeared to be two girls. And, the voices…their voices sounded familiar to Akane…

"Chinatsu-chan, it's ok. You can tell me what's bothering you. Akari is here to help."

That voice- Akane recognized it instantly. The third-person speech was only an extra give-away…

'Akari…?' Akane thought in confusion as her mind began to make sense of the scene before her.

Chinatsu took in a nervous breath. "Akari-chan, I…"

'And…' Akane recognized that second voice from the times she'd spent the night at Tomoko-chan's house… 'Yoshikawa-chan…?' Akane prepared to make her presence known, in order to avoid eavesdropping on the two girls anymore than she already had, when Chinatsu Yoshikawa did something that shocked both Akari and Akane.

Chinatsu leaned toward Akari, pressing her lips to the red-haired middle school student's mouth in a soft kiss.

Fireworks exploded in the night sky behind the embracing couple, lighting the scene in a Hollywood romance-like, perfect-kiss moment…

(The only difference between this scene and one from a romance movie was the sound of shouting in the distance:

"…Kyouko! I told you not to run with the lighter! Now half of the fireworks are gone already!"

"I'm sorry, Yui! I was just so excited to reveal my "special New Years Surprise!"…Hey…Yui…Can we kiss now?"

"/…No!"

"Boo~…It would have been so romantic, Yui, with the fireworks exploding all pretty like they are…"

"Well…maybe we could kiss, Kyouko…"

"What? Really, Yui?!"

"Yeah…Kyouko…I-"

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS YELLING?"

"Sakurako! Stop yelling! Can't you see that Funami-senpai and Toshino-senpai are trying to have a moment?!"

"JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE BIG BOOBS DOESN'T MEAN YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, HIMAWARI!"

After a short pause, the sound of somebody, somebody blond, with chocolate-brown eyes, being smacked, hard, was heard across the town…)

After a moment that felt like an eternity, the two girls standing on the overlook, who remained completely unaware of anything but each other, pulled apart slowly and gazed into each other's eyes.

"Ch-Chinatsu-chan…"

* * *

**Continue on to Chapter 2 (to be uploaded within this week!) for the continuation and conclusion of this story! :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own YuruYuri! It belongs to its creator, Namori-sensei! I don't own HayateXBlade either, because it belongs to Shizuru Hayashiya-sensei. I also don't own Candy Boy, which belongs to Hiro Touge-sensei. And, I don't own Mai-Hime, which belongs to Sunrise and Masakazu Obara-sensei and Hiroyuki Yoshino-sensei.**

**This story was inspired by Marshmallow-101's and Yuri no Tenshi's awesome fanfics! :)**

*****Note: This Story has been extended into 3 or more chapters (rather than the originally planned 2).**

* * *

**Last Chapter:**

Chinatsu leaned toward Akari, pressing her lips to the red-haired middle school student's mouth in a soft kiss.

* * *

A New Year's Kiss: Chapter 2

The air was knocked out of Akane's lungs as she witnessed the scene before her. Her body felt numb, her heart like a crumbling shard of sandstone as she watched Chinatsu kiss the person she loved…

After a moment that felt like an eternity, the two girls standing on the overlook pulled apart slowly and gazed into each other's eyes.

Akari's purple eyes were wide in shock. Her cheeks were bright red, and her expression was adorably flustered… "Ch-Chinatsu-chan…I…"

"I- I'm sorry, Akari-chan! Earlier, I heard my sister blabbering excitedly about a place with beautiful scenery, and, she mentioned that it was just fifteen minutes up this trail, and… All I could think of was taking you here so I could…" Chinatsu swallowed nervously before continuing, "…Tell you…So I could tell you that I love you…"

"M-me? You love _Akari_? Wh-Wh-Why?!" was Akari's incredulous response.

Chinatsu looked into the eyes of her red-haired crush sincerely. "Akari-chan…You're the most beautiful person I know. Both inside and out. You're the nicest person I've ever met, and…I'm sorry it's taken me so long to realize how great you are… It seems crazy to me now, thinking about how people don't seem to see you… Because you're the only person I've been able to see, to even think about, for awhile now…"

Akari blushed. "…Thank you, Chinatsu-chan…" In spite of her flustered stuttering, Chinatsu's genuine and sweet words had given Akari confidence. Enough confidence to say something that she'd been keeping a secret for awhile as well…

Akari smiled at Chinatsu. "I love you too. I have for awhile now, actually…" The red-haired middle school student laughed gently, her cheeks turning pink again. "But, I always thought that you still liked Yui-chan…"

Chinatsu chuckled as well. "Hah, no, it's obvious that she's in love with Kyouko-senpai now… Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed tonight at midnight…"

At the word _kissed_, both girls became quiet once again, looking at the ground shyly.

"Um, Chinatsu-chan…"

"Yes, Akari-chan?..."

Akari's pulse was running a mile a minute as she said a bit shakily, with an extremely nervous smile, "Would you, like to…k..k-kiss again…? T-tonight? At midnight?..."

Chinatsu blushed more as she smiled wider, looking up at Akari nervously but happily. "I'd love to…"

Akari looked up and happily returned Chinatsu's excited, loving gaze and smile. New-love excitement was radiating from the two girls.

"Akari is glad!…Um… Do you want to stay here, Chinatsu-chan, or…?"

Chinatsu shook her head. "Only if you'd want to. I'm happy after getting the courage to kiss you here, in a romantic place like this- even if it wasn't at midnight… I heard Kyouko-senpai's "special surprise" was fireworks, and, since we've already kissed here, I think that it'd be romantic to kiss while watching the fireworks up close too, so…we could try that too, if you'd want to…"

Akari smiled, blushing more and nodding happily.

"That sounds fun!"

Chinatsu returned Akari's delighted grin with one of her own.

"All right. Let's go then." The pink-haired girl paused briefly, hesitating as she debated an idea in her mind…

Akari extended her hand to the blue-eyed girl, smiling at her knowingly. Her face was so red with embarrassment, and her heart was beating so fast…but she… she really wanted to hold hands with Chinatsu-chan, and now she knew that Chinatsu-chan wanted to hold hands with her too! Akari couldn't miss an opportunity like this!

Chinatsu smiled back slightly bashfully, taking the red-haired middle school student's hand into her own and leading her down the path to the town.

* * *

As the two girls disappeared down the path, Akane remained where she was sitting, unable to speak or move…

Akari…had a girlfriend, now…Chinatsu Yoshikawa returned her feelings…

(Akane began breathing again- it felt like she had been holding her breath for the past five minutes…)

…That was…wonderful…

Akane Akaza knew two things for certain. One, that she truly loved Akari. And two, that all she had ever truly wanted, was for Akari to be happy. These facts were clearer now to Akane than they had ever been before… So now… The only question left, was…Why did knowing this have to _hurt_ so much?...

The pre-med student's expression remained stunned as she continued to process the situation in her mind…

All Akane had ever wanted was for Akari to be happy… She… had also wanted to be the one to make Akari happy, but…really… it didn't really matter who was making Akari happy, did it?... Just as long as… as Akari was happy…

A sad but gentle smile appeared on Akane's face. After a moment, her lip quivered. But no tears formed in or fell from her eyes.

Akane had known that this day would come, eventually… The day when Akari would fall in love with somebody. And from the moment Akari had told Akane about her crush on Chinatsu, Akane had known that Chinatsu could likely return Akari's feelings one day. (Who in their right mind wouldn't fall in love with Akari, after all?)

...Akane had always known this, in the back of her mind, but… she could never bring herself to really think about it…until now…because…

Because it had just happened…

"Akari… has a girlfriend now…"

If Akane's heart truly were a crumbling stone, in spite of all the years it had been kept together with false hope and belief in the fantastical dream of Akari one day returning her feelings… this is the moment where it finally broke.

Akane Akaza stared blankly ahead, at the ground a few feet ahead of where she was sitting. And after five minutes of complete silence, her mind had finally managed to process the situation. Her gaze still bound to the ground in front of her, the 19 year old's blank expression changed into one of heartbroken pain. A small but steady stream of tears began to fall down each of her cheeks, as Akane began to cry silently.

* * *

Tomoko Yoshikawa stopped abruptly in her trek up the walking trail. She had been lost in her anxiety over her upcoming confession to her friend Akane, and walking up the trail to avoid doing so, but… for some reason, she felt compelled to turn back all of a sudden…

The pink-haired, Pre-nursing major checked the time on her phone.

'11:40pm…' she thought, her breathing a little shaky due to nervousness. 'If I start walking back now, I should be able to make it back to Akane-chan by 11:50pm.'

Tomoko began walking back down the trail, taking a deep breath, and trying her best to strengthen her resolve.

'And… when I get back… I _will_ confess to her!…'

Tomoko's breath hitched slightly as she tried to think this confidently. The thought made her so nervous though!...

'This whole year, I've been too afraid to confess to Akane-chan… I know that there's still a chance that she won't be ready, that she won't return my feelings, but… I have to try…'

Something in Tomoko's heart had told Tomoko that this New Years Eve was the time to confess to Akane. This sudden feeling of sureness she'd been feeling lately, combined with the fact that she felt as if her heart might burst with emotion and nervous butterflies if she didn't confess to her secret crush of 6 years soon, had given Tomoko the courage to ask Akane to walk with her to the overlook that night.

'That kiss that Akane-chan and I shared 6, now almost 7 years ago… I know that it didn't mean nothing,' Tomoko thought, 'In that moment, I fell in love with her… And I think that she fell in love with me too…maybe a little, at least. And after meeting each other again this year, and spending so much time together… All those feelings have come back to me again… And, maybe to her too…'

Tomoko's resolve was beginning to become strong again as she neared the overlook.

'Akane-chan may have said that she only sees me as a friend, but something about our relationship lately has been telling me that she feels the same way about me as I do about her… And…'

Tomoko put on a brave face as she neared the overlook, determined to be confident and not back out of confessing to Akane like she had earlier that night.

'…And even if she's not sure about her feelings for me right now, that shouldn't stop me from letting Akane-chan know how I honestly feel about her… That I-'

Tomoko's focused mood was immediately replaced by shock, and then deep concern, as she entered the overlook section of the path and paused in front of her friend.

Akane was crying...

* * *

**To be continued in Chapter 3! :3**


End file.
